SQLBits 2011

How DBAs can use PowerPivot for Performance Tuning / Troubleshooting

PowerPivot can be a great troubleshooting / performance tuning tool for a dba besides just loading all the data in a database and start querying. I'll show the pro's and cons of PowerPivot while trying work with waitstats, profiler data etc.
The amout of perf data that we can collect for a SQL Server can add up quickly.The easiest way for us dba's is to load everything into a database and start querying. Unfortunately that sounds like a lot of work. Why not use PowerPivot ? It will give you all you need but still allows for the flexibility that you don't want to lose. That's where this session comes in. I'll show the good, the bad and the ugly parts of PowerPivot while trying work with, and even correlate, waitstats, virtualfilestats, perfmon counters, profiler trace data, extended events data, etc. This session will be filled with demo's and I'll explain all the perf tuning techniques that I use along the way.